Chronic absenteeism among NYC school children remains stubbornly high

The number of New York City children missing school on a regular basis remains stubbornly high, years after students returned to in-person learning following COVID-era lockdowns,  according to new figures released Monday.

Close to 35% of public school students were considered “chronically absent” during 2023-24, missing at least 10% of the school year, according to data from the Mayor’s Management Report. That’s roughly the same level as the year before, when 36% of students were chronically absent.

Before the pandemic, chronic absenteeism rates typically hovered around a quarter of students each year.

“These numbers should have started to come back to normal,” said David Bloomfield, a professor of education law and policy at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center. “Persistent absenteeism has become routine for too many students and families. School attendance stopped being habitual; it stopped being routine.”

Chronic absenteeism soared during the pandemic, spiking at 41% during the 2021-22 school year — when many students were first returning to classrooms, and still spreading COVID-19 and following quarantine protocols. But even as vaccines became available and the health crisis faded from public view, student attendance was still spotty.

Sarah Part, a senior policy analyst at Advocates for Children, said she’s continued to see students missing school because of issues with school transportation — exacerbated by a local policy that forces some migrant families with children to move shelters every 60 days — and a spike in mental health problems that has young adults avoiding their schools.

“There really needs to be a concerted effort to focus on this issue,” said Part. “Because it’s kind of self-evident — students who are absent have fewer opportunities to learn. So anything else this administration is trying to do, students have to be in school to benefit from those initiatives, to have the kind of impact we want.”

Education officials are trying to lower the chronic absenteeism rate to a goal of 29%, according to the report — widely viewed as the Adams administration’s yearly report card.

“Schools conducted extensive outreach, collaborated with community partners, and followed up daily with students and families to increase attendance,” it read.

The Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but has said it has a variety of programs aimed at targeting kids who are chronically absent.

During a press conference Monday, Mayor Adams focused on numbers that show more families signed up for childcare and more young people living in NYCHA buildings were connected with jobs.

“This is just a small sample of what we have done,” Adams said of the findings. “We have more to do, we know that, but we’re moving in the right direction.”

Originally Published: September 16, 2024 at 5:47 p.m.